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The woman looked around them. ‘Was Sarah suffering from any head pain recently?’

‘Yes,’ Adam said. ‘She had mentioned headaches. I thought she might need iron because of the baby.’

‘Mr Brown, we think your wife has suffered a brain injury, and we’re working to ascertain the type and the level of damage.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Adam said, his shoulders sagging.

‘Riley,’ Mia said quickly, ‘I’d say Izzy would love a hot chocolate, wouldn’t you, sweetheart?’

Izzy was looking worriedly from face to face, obviously trying to work out what was going on. Riley nodded at her mother. ‘I’d murder a hot chocolate myself,’ she said. She bent down to Izzy’s eye level. ‘The doctors are using hard words I can’t understand, so how about we go to the café? When we come back, Mum can explain it to us so we can understand. What do you think?’

‘Em … OK,’ Izzy said uncertainly. ‘Did Mummy’s headache make her sick?’

Mia didn’t trust herself to speak. She was going to break down at any moment. Neurosurgeon, brain injury … She could barely keep herself standing. This was like a surrealnightmare. Thank God for Riley, even if she didn’t believe in him.

Professor Irwin smiled warmly at Izzy. ‘Did Mummy have headaches, Izzy?’

Izzy nodded. ‘She kept saying she was OK, but I think her head was hurting a lot. And it was really sore today because she couldn’t even make my lunch. I did it myself.’

‘Good for you,’ Professor Irwin said.

Mia looked at Adam, whose eyes were red, as if he were holding back tears. The poor man, she thought. He’ll be feeling guilty now that he wasn’t there to help.

‘We’re going to do everything we can to help your mummy,’ Professor Irwin said. ‘And I think you deserve a hot chocolate after all that helping you did today.’

‘OK,’ Izzy said, seeming reassured. ‘We’ll be back soon.’

The door closed behind the two girls and all the adults dropped the fake smiles.

‘Why don’t we sit down?’ Dr Mayhew said. ‘This is a terrible shock for you all.’

They sat into the chairs, and Mia took Johnny’s hand. She needed to feel something solid and real because the world was spinning and she was trying hard to stay upright.

‘The headaches were a warning sign,’ Professor Irwin said. ‘We think there may be bleeding in an area of Sarah’s brain, which has triggered the injury.’

‘W-will she be OK?’ Adam stuttered.

‘It’s difficult to say at this point,’ Professor Irwin said. ‘We have to run a number of tests to verify our suspicions, and it would be unwise to jump to conclusions at this early stage. For now Sarah is intubated and on a life-support machine. This is necessary, although I know it will be hard for you. She’s not conscious, but we would encourage you to talk to her.’

‘Is that it? Just … tests?’ Adam said, and his voice sounded faint. Mia’s heart went out to him.

‘For now, yes, I’m afraid that’s the situation. I’m terribly sorry that we can’t give you certainties, but we have to ask you to bear with us over the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours. This is a complicated case, as you can appreciate.’

‘It’s further complicated,’ Dr Mayhew added, ‘because, of course, Sarah is pregnant. We’re monitoring the foetus closely and so far the heartbeat remains strong. Our obstetric and neonatal paediatric teams will be keeping a close eye on the baby’s progress.’

‘Thank you,’ Mia said, but she wasn’t sure why. This was crazy. Sarah had waved them off from the front door just a while ago. This couldn’t be happening.

‘Please save them,’ Adam whispered.

Dr Mayhew’s eyes were full of sympathy. ‘We’ll do our utmost, Mr Brown. I know this is uncharted territory for you all. I’m sure you’ll have questions and concerns. We have assigned your wife to a very experienced trauma coordinator nurse, Angela Fanagan, and she will be available to you at all times to answer questions and liaise between the various teams and yourselves. She’s an excellent senior nurse and will take good care of you, and of Sarah.’

‘What do you think of Sarah’s chances?’ Charlie asked.

The two doctors exchanged a brief glance.

‘It’s too early to say,’ Professor Irwin said. ‘As I said, it would be unwise to speculate. But her condition is very serious.’

‘Oh, God,’ Mia said, biting her lip hard.